Devotional Thought - All Things New

All Things New

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14 - 21

Bible Text: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

What a wonderful truth we discover in this passage of God’s Word!

No longer must we be bound with the fetters of sins committed in the distant past. No more will we be shackled by the terrors of the memory of past deeds. It is impossible to be burdened by the past if we are followers of Christ Jesus.

The words are plain and simple. If you are in Christ then you are a new creature. You, as a follower of Christ, have become something totally different. You are a new creation. You have been changed from a sinner to a saint, from a vagabond seeking shelter from the difficulties of life to a child of God who is a home with the Heavenly Father and under His protection.

Further, all of the old things are gone, completely gone. And we have all things that are new. These new things in our life are without the stain of sin.

When we place our faith in Christ Jesus and follow Him, we are freed from the past and are become new creatures of God’s grace.

Christ makes saints of sinners.

Devotional Thought - Carry The Message

Carry The Message

Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 12:1-10

Bible Text: “And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man…” 2 Samuel 12:7a

The sin had been committed months earlier. The King had committed adultery with the wife of one of his soldiers and then had that soldier killed in battle. The adulterous act resulted in the woman becoming pregnant. The cover-up was thought to have been complete. The husband was dead. The pregnant wife was befriended by the King and given a place in his home as one of his many wives.

Although the months had passed and no human had revealed the sins of the King, those sins had been seen by the Lord of the Universe. God, Himself, sent one of his fearless servants to the King.

The King, David, was told that God knew and would hold him to account for his sin. Indeed, David and his family paid for his actions into the generations that were yet to come.

Nathan, God’s prophet, was the man with the message for the man mired in sin.

Will you carry the message of salvation from the coming judgment through Christ Jesus? Will you be as fearless as Nathan facing King David as you face your friends and associates with the Word of God?

Hypocrisy is too thin a veil to blind the eyes of the Almighty. - William Gurnall

A Chip Off The Health Care Block

The following was written by Dr. N. W. Hutchings, President of Southwest Radio Church of the Air, Inc. (www.swrc.com).

Hitachi and ohter health-related companies have developed RFID units smaller than a grain of rice, which when implanted in the body, even without the carrier's knowledge, can provide all available or needed health or personal information. These RFIDs are promoted under the guise of being life-supporting or life-sustaining health needs within the context of the new Federal Health Care Legislation. For example, under HR 3962, Sec. 2571 (National Medical Device Registry) - (9)(1)(A)(ii), "May include, as the Secretary determines, appropriate and specifics in regulation, a class II device that is life-supporting or life-sustaining." Now it is true that this section of the Health Care Bill does not say this RFID has to be implanted in the right hand or the forehead...but as the legislation indicates, this could be determined by the "secretary". In the 1930s when I worked for the FDR program, citizens were asked to put the NRA sign of the eagle on their doors, but Christians said, "No this could be the mark of the beast." Now, the RFID unit stipulated in the Health Care Bill is buried within a small section of the 2,700 pages. If the bill becomes law, everyone could be required to comply in order to get national health insurance, and if you do not have health insurance, you will be fined and possibly jailed.

Devotional Thought - Little Faith

Litte Faith

Bible Reading: Matthew 16: 1 - 12

Bible Text: “…If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” - Matthew 17:20

Often our Lord would speak to his followers using the phrase “O ye of little faith”. It is remarkable that Christ Jesus would acknowledge any faith at all in any of his followers.

Repeatedly they would fail when it came to any test of faith. They, unfortunately, carried many of the same traits that we followers of Christ have in this modern day. That is, little faith.

The good news is that Christ, in His loving kindness, noticed the miniscule speck of faith that His followers displayed. They were following Him. They had abandoned all to be with Him. The overriding good news is that they did not need a huge amount of faith.

The amount of faith that any follower of Christ must have to see God work the miraculous is so tiny that it is hardly noticeable. Christ told them if their faith was as small as a mustard seed, one of the smallest of seeds, then God would work.

Are you exercising the little faith that you have?

Fear ends where faith begins.

Earthquake Relief for Haiti

Yesterday's 7.0 earthquake centered near Port Au Prince has resulted in an estimated 3,000,000 displaced Haitians with an unknown number of injured and killed. Missionaries and secular humanitarian groups are working to help the victims as soon as possible.

All CHRISTians have been urged to pray for the victims of the Haitian earthquake. That is a good start for those of us who are here unable to go work in Haiti. We can also do more. Two organizations that are helping victims with various humanitarian aid provided in Jesus' name are The Radio Bible Hour of Newport, Tennessee and Samaritan's Purse of Boone, North Carolina.

Contact information is as follows:
Dr. J. Don Smith
President
Radio Bible Hour, Inc.
P.O. Box 99
Newport, Tennnessee 37822-0099
(423) 623-3400
radiobiblehour.org

Samaritan's Purse
P.O. Box 3000
Boone, North Carolina 28607
(828) 262-1980
samaritanspurse.org

Welcome to the New Year

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” - Genesis 1:1

At the start of each new year there are people who spend time reflecting on the year that has just passed and begin their plans for the year just beginning. Often those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ spend time asking for God’s direction as the new year begins.

All of this is good in its place. We certainly need to know the direction that God has for us as we turn the pages of the calendar.

I think it is a good practice at the first of each new year to reflect upon not only the year just finished, but to go all the way back to the start of life. Not the start of my life, but the start of creation. It helps me to place the new year in perspective when I remember the grand act of creation when it was in the beginning when God created all that exists.

The statement of God’s Word is simple. It happened in the beginning. It was God in action. God created the heaven and the earth. God then created all the systems of the universe and then he created the human race.

While the statement is simple, God’s actions are without equal. The Almighty God that created everything has also provided eternal life in Christ Jesus for all who will believe.

Are you following Christ Jesus as you begin this new year?

Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given;
While angels sing with tender mirth,
A glad new year to all the earth.

-- Martin Luther